Exploring Ethnic Diversity and Racial Inequality in America: A Multimedia Analysis, Papers of Communication

Download Exploring Ethnic Diversity and Racial Inequality in America: A Multimedia Analysis and more Papers Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Collage: An Instructional Diversity Disk Abstract The subject of white privilege and is often taught with much apprehension for European-Americans and other ethnic-American, teachers, and parents. Caught unprepared, Caucasian students often find it difficult to reconcile conflicting emotions and have few tools of discourse in which to respond besides anger. Ethnic-American students have to suffer through the depiction of their ancestors as helpless victims of cultural genocide. This project in part grew to fruition from conversations with Caucasian students who felt frustrated trying to eliminate ethnocentrism in a public speaking class, and conversations with other ethnic-instructors and professors whose students often told them they were intimidating. By using popular film as texts, this project will serve two functions. The first, it will serve as an objective lens in which to view American popular culture. The second, it will serve as a tool for further individual discovery if needed by the student. Each clip was taken form videos recording easily accessible from any neighborhood video store and scholarly textbooks available in most university libraries inspired discussion questions. Theodore Ransaw/Com 101 Public Speaking Instructor University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 30, 2004 1 Instructor Notes Each popular movie clip can be paused and discussed after every section, or run in its entirety with discussion at the end. 1. Two Nations 2. The Perfect Minority 3. One Nation Invisible 4. Through the Eyes of a Child 5. The Black Image in the White Mind 6. Denial 7. Environment or Ability 8. Girl Power At this point, it is necessary to note that not all Americans of European descent identify with the term European-American. However, since the nature of this study involves cross-cultural as well as intercultural communication, identification of specific cultures is necessary. The term Anglo-American is also inappropriate as language can be learned by members outside the group without sharing the same experiences. For this study, the term European-American will be used to identify those who share a commonplace of origin, and is by no means inclusive of all the diverse cultures of the continent. 2 Windtalker/What’s in a name? There are over 500 separate and distinct Native American tribes in the United States. This figure does not include the native Indians of South America. Native- American culture is so diverse that they refer to themselves as made up of separate nations, and not tribes. A name to a Native-American means not only a title, but a connection to their history. (Recommended reading Indian Nation: Native American Literature And Nineteenth-Century Nationalisms, by Cheryl Walker, Lied Library, PS153.I52 W35 1997). Discussion Questions 1. From the Civil War to the conflict in Iraq, Native-Americans have fought in every war the United States has been involved in since the American Revolution. How is it their contribution has been almost ignored by American school textbooks? 2. It is a cultural tradition of many Native-Americans to teach their children never to question their elders. How does this nonEuropean tradition affect student teacher relationships between Native-American children and instructors in the classroom? 3. Native-American economic conditions are not equal. For example, Alaskan natives, many of whom are Native-Americans, enjoy equal distribution of state oil investment every year. Some Native-American tribes are still listed as ‘domestic dependent nations’ that stems from a Supreme Court Ruling in 1831. Still some other Native-Americans have profited from reservation casino gambling. In other words, not all Native-American experiences have 5 been the same. Does different American experiences help or hinder Native- American ideology? The Spook Who Sat by the Door/The black image in the white mind The Black Image in the White Mind (P94.5.A372 U55 2000) by Robert, Entman and Andrew, Rojecki is an award winning book that details how African-Americans are portrayed in the media. Based on the book by writer Sam Greenlee, The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Lied Library, PS153.N5 F56 1996) accurately depicts the book author Sam Greenlee’s opinion on how African-Americans feel they are seen by the rest of America, either as unintelligent, or invisible. Discussion Questions 1. To test this theory, Mr. Ransaw dressed in a white tuxedo shirt, and black pants (classic waiter’s uniform), walked into the employee dining room at the Mirage and ate lunch at a table next to a security guard. Could Mr. Ransaw have been able to do this if he was not African-American? 2. Can an ethnic person in the United States say, “I do not have to worry about being stopped or harassed by the police because people of my race do not committee robbery” (Schultz, 2004, p. 120). 3. Muslim Americans, almost invisible in the United States until 9/11, are now highly visible around the world. In 2000 the census bureau reported 1.2 million Arabs live in the United States (Nieto, 2004). Cedar Rapids, Iowa has had a Muslim community for more than 100 years, and the first Mosques were built in America in 1920. However, Arabs make up only 20 percent of all 6 Muslims in the world. What made so many American-Arabs invisible, and who are the other invisible Muslims in America? White Man’s Burden/Through the eyes of a child Psychologists Mamie Phipps-Clark, and Kenneth B. Clark did a case study of African-American children (Library of Congress, 2004). When given a choice between a black doll and a white doll, African-American children preferred the white doll. The children said the Black dolls were ugly and the White dolls were pretty. They concluded that children are aware of racial identity by the age of three, and can be damaged by negative images that effect their self-esteem by five. This finding was used in the historic Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that helped to end school segregation. The title, White Man’s Burden was borrowed from a book by Jordan, Winthrop (Lied Library, E446 .J67). Discussion Questions 1. There are more minorities in television than ever before. Can an ethnic person in the United States say, “If I turn on the television I can see actors and products that accurately represent people that look like me?” (Schultz, 2004, p. 120).” 2. In children’s television advertisements, ethnic children are less likely to be hugged or kissed (Entman and Rojecki, 2000). What does this study say about American views of minority children? 3. In a poll by Sniderman, Tetlock, and Paizza, most Americans believe that black males are arrested 60 percent more than Whites, when according to FBI statistics, White males are arrested 57 percent more than Blacks (Entman and 7 Discussion Questions 1. Women have unique abilities and characteristics. Is America missing this valuable asset by not allowing women to serve in combat situations in the armed forces? 2. “While white women experience sexism, Asian-American women [women of color] suffer from both racism and sexism” (Jagger & Rothenberg, 1993, p.215). Has feminism adequately addressed diverse American female values and cultural expectation concerns? 3. “[Feminist] it may be said have a performative diminsion-i.e, to be doing something beyond restating already existent ideas and views, wherever these might happen to reside” (Dow, 1996, p. 4). Feminism can be divided into two waves. The first wave culminated in the 1920 passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, and second-wave feminism started in the 1970’s, with the emergence of television and media ads specifically targeted towards women (Dow, 1996). Now that women make most of the purchasing decisions in the United States, has America entered a third wave of feminism? 10 A Village of 100 If the world’s population was reduced to just 100 people, what would it look like? Out of 100 people… 57 Would be Asian 21 Would be European 14 Would be from the Western Hemisphere 8 Would be African 52 Would be Female 48 Would be Male 70 Would be Non White 30 Would be White 70 Would be non Christian 30 Would be Christian 89 Would be Heterosexual 11 Would be Homosexual 50% Of the wealth would be in the hands of 6 people 6 Of those people would live in the United States 80 People would live in substandard housing 70 Would be unable to read 50 Would suffer from malnutrition 1 Would be near death 1 Would be near Birth 1 Would have a college education 4 Would own a computer 11 Five things you should know about poverty around the world (Schultz, 2004, p. 120). 1. Geography may more to do with poverty than anything else – the southern hemisphere of the globe has the distinction of being home to the majority of the world's’ one-room shelters. 2. Half the world’s population lives on less than $2 dollars a day – one out of every six lives on $1 a day 3. Poor health makes people poor and being poor makes people sick – the ‘newly poor’ cite illness most frequently as the cause of their slide into poverty. 4. Gender matters – one out of ever four countries has a constitution or law that prevents women from owning land or taking mortgages in their own name. 5. Lack of clean water is liked to poverty – 204 billion people lack adequate sanitation, 1.1 billion lack clean water, these two factors link together to cause more than 2.2 million deaths , many of them children Four Things you should know about Poverty in the United States (Schultz, 2004, p. 120). 1. A minimum wage, full-time job does not guarantee a decent, affordable place to live – the Fair Market Price of a two-bedroom housing unit in Virginia requires a $8.72 per hour income, in Massachusetts $21.14. 2. In 2001, one in seven Americans had critical housing needs – mostly in the Northeast and West 12 Library of Congress. (2002). With an even hand: Brown V board of education of Topica Kansas. Retrieved December 8, 2004, from Library of Congress Exhibitions Web site: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-brown.html. Macaulay, C., & Anderson, A. (2002). Winddtalkers [Motion picture]. America: M.G.M. Home Entertainment. Matt, M. (1997). Notable Latino Americans: a biographical dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Mendez/Musica & Olmos, E. J. (Producers), Menendez, R. (Writer). (1998). Stand and deliver [Motion picture]. America: Warner Brothers. Murphy, E. (Writer). (1998). Life as a white man [Motion picture]. United States: Trimark Home Video. Nieto, S. (2004). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education, (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson. . Nozik, M. (Producer), Fusco, J. (Writer). (1991). Thunderheart [Motion picture]. America: Tristar Pictures. Omi, M., & Winant, H. (1994). Racial formation in the United States: From the 1960’s to the 1980’s. (2nd ed). New York: Routledge. Shaye, R, & Lynne, M. (Executive producers), Tolken, J., Walsh, F., Boyens, P., & Jackson, P. (Writers). (2003). The lord of the rings [Motion picture]. America: New Line Cinema. Spielberg, S. (Producer/Writer). (1997). Schindler’s list [Movie recording]. America, Universal Home Video. 15 Training Tools. (2004). What if the world were a village of 100 people? Village Of 100, 2nd Edition [Electronic version]. Trainer Tool Chest Building Tools. Retrieved December 26, 2004, from http://www.trainerstoolchest.com/show_product.php?idnum=380. Walker, C. (1997). Indian nation: Native American literature and nineteenth-century nationalisms. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. Wintrop, J. D. (1974). The white man's burden: historical origins of racism in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. Woo, J. (Producer/Director). Rice, J. & Batteer, J. (Writers). (2002). Kiss of the dragon [Motion picture]. America: MGM Home Entertainment. 16 Limitations Availability of popular movie clips to use a text was one limitation. Mississippi Marsala, an excellent example of cinematography from both an interracial couple’s point of view, and a East/Indian-American perspective was unavailable. Time was another factor. It is simply impossible to detail every ethnic-American’s perspective in one semester let alone on one DVD. The challenge is to find enough visual text overviews that describe feelings and emotion of ethnic-Americans with corresponding scholarly texts. Same sex marriage, and Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Alternative lifestyles- Americans popular movie recordings were unavailable. 17